The Final Fantasy
by Leia Avenrose
Summary: They all meet, see one another, and yet...they have no clue as to who or what they are. When they eventually meet, what are we to expect? How many different romances will blossom? Why are they all meeting together and who are they going to have to defeat


            **Disclaimer:** I don't own any of the _Final Fantasy_ games, nor do I own any of the characters 'borrowed' from the _Final Fantasy_ games. No profits are made from my materials and no animals were injured or used within the making of this novel…

            **Dedication:** To _*Sagittarius Girl*_ for the help with the new site that we and for the burnt cds! *^-^* Agrigatou!

*     *     *     *     *     *     *     *

            Is This The… Final Fantasy?Ô

          By: _Lynzi Knight  
            _Rating: PG-13 / R  
            Warnings/Spoilers: Scene 2, the ending of _Final Fantasy X_ is revealed to those who have not seen the ending video yet. If you do not wish to read that part, then skip it and go to scene three… gomen & agrigatou!

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            _Chapter 1 _****

            The full moon was bright and hung high up in the dark night sky as the large vehicle glided peacefully overtop the dark, murky waters below. The sound of music and happy chatter floated out onto the balcony as the two people stood in silence just staring out at the darkness all around them, enjoying the peace while it lasted. After the last battle they had all had been in, they were celebrating the death of the defeated sorceress who had corrupted the young mind of the young woman named Rinoa Heartilly, as well as the SeeD exam, which many Balamb Garden members had passed easily.

            The stars decorating the dark sky above looked like a sparkling blanket of sheer silkiness as a pair of dark blue gray eyes slowly lowered from it to stare into the bleakness of what laid ahead. Neither of them said a word or moved. Together they just stood as one, breathing the same sweet air that flowed along with the wind in silence. The dark, exotic strands of hair laying atop the woman's head slowly swayed to the side as she stared up at the stars and then caught sight of bright star that flew across the vast dark sky, leaving behind in it's wake nothing but small specks that quickly disappeared from the mortal eye.

            Rinoa Heartilly smiled softly to herself as she lowered her head and then slowly turned to face the handsome man across from her, a hand lifting towards the sky to show him whatever was left from the shooting star, her long, slender forefinger extended upwards as the smile painting her light pink lips widened slightly into more of a grin. The man beside her, a few feet away, smiled to her, the smile touching his usual cloaked, dull looking face, lighting up his eyes as he stared into her own eyes, his full lips spreading into a beautiful smile that looked like it was well suited for him all the time.

            "A shooting star, Squall." Rinoa whispered softly as she watched him gracefully walk up to her, his gloved hand entrapping her hand that had been lifted into the air, his own long fingers enclosing around hers softly as he nodded.

            "I saw." Squall Leonhart answered as he stepped up in front of her and quickly swooped his head downwards, his lips touching hers instantly as his arm snaked around her slim waist to draw her frail looking body up against his hard and lean one. "Did you make a wish?" He asked against her mouth as he swept his tongue against her lower lip that seemed slightly swollen to his mouth.

            Rinoa nodded her head and mumbled a 'uh-huh' as she parted her lips, allowing him to enter her quickly and sweetly with one swift plunge. Her free arm went up his arm and then around his neck as she pressed herself closer to him, both their hands standing alone in the middle of their bodies, pressed to each other's chest. She slowly pulled her lips from his and stared up into his eyes that shone brightly underneath the shadows of his light brown bangs that feathered along the sides of his face, slightly dragging over his eyebrows.

            "I already got my wish, how about you?" She asked, looking innocent. Squall chuckled softly, quietly, before lowering his face to hers to capture her lips under his own demanding ones once again while the party to the right of them continued on and on into the night.

*     *     *     *     *     *     *     *

            Neither of them spoke. Just stared at each other.

Tidus licked his lips slowly and then looked down at the ground before putting his hands on his hips. "I've got to get going," He informed her in a gentle, but firm voice, nodding his head once while staring at her.

Yuna swallowed and shook her head hard this time. Tidus looked somewhat lost, torn into two halves. He nodded his head again and began to slowly shuffle his weight from foot to foot. "Sorry, I won't get a chance to take you to Zanarkand," He said as he glanced over at Wakka who was at his right staring at him in disbelief and yet wonder at who he _really_ was.

Tidus took one look at his friend before stumbling forward a few feet, Yuna's eyes on him and only him. She wanted to say something to not have him go, but what could she say? Nothing, nothing at all. She had to let him go and that was that. There was nothing she could do to stop him, his dream was coming to an end and in the end, it meant that he had to leave them all, especially her, which both of them didn't want.

Tidus walked forward a couple of feet before stopping and turning to glance back at everyone who was there watching him leave -- Rikku, Lulu, Wakka, Kimahri and Yuna. He walked a foot more before nodding. "See you around!"  He said as he then started to walk quickly forward towards the edge of the airship, the tremor in his tenor like voice being heard by everyone, including him.

"Hey, wait!" Wakka protested, begging him to stay and not go even though he knew that Tidus had to. 

"Hey! Will we ever see you again?" Rikku cried out, the tremor in her own voice loud and hard to her ears as she outstretched a fingerless gloved hand to his back as he continued his journey towards the end of the airship. As he walked as a fast gait past Yuna, she opened her mouth slightly to say something, but he just brushed past her to get it over with. She turned and watched him with tears blurring her last looks of him.

Tidus got a few feet away from the edge while Yuna was slowly opening and closing her mouth, wanting to say something. But she couldn't. Instead a choked gasp, cry escaped her throat and then she went after him, her only thoughts of him and only him.

"Yuna!"  Kimahri shouted out to her, but she wouldn't listen. At the shout of her name, Tidus glanced over his shoulder, his deep blue eyes filled with tears as he then realized who it really was and then turned around fully to accept her with open arms, to gather her close and perhaps kiss her hard and long, allowing all his love for her to go into that one goodbye kiss that would be their last.

When he turned, his arms spread wide to take her in, his body slowly began to fade out, causing Yuna to fly right through him and land on the floor of the airship a foot or two away from where he was standing. She landed hard, the side of her head hitting the hard floor hard. Everyone gasped and fought the urge to run over to her to see if she were alright, but they knew that she had to do this.

Yuna laid on the ground softly weeping, Tidus standing a few feet away, his eyes clouded by tears as the spirits floated past him and through him as he slowly lifted his hands up to look down at them, his soft sobs quiet and full of pain, heartache. As the spirits floated past and through him, one small spirit, glowing brightly, floated up from the ground in front of Yuna's face. She squinted her eyes against the bright light, but watched as it floated away up into the skies above.

 Yuna then slowly picked herself up off the ground and stood up straight, her eyes to the skies, watching the spirits as they floated away. "Thank you," She said softly, her voice quivering.

From behind, Tidus quickly turned around and watched her before he swallowed thickly and walked up to her. He stood behind her just staring at the nape of her neck before he slowly wrapped his slowly fading arms around her, resting them atop her breasts, his face buried into her hair just at the crook of her neck. 

Yuna could feel him passing through her body and she closed her eyes against the tears that came to her eyes again. A soft smile touched her lips and was quickly wiped away as Tidus' arms slowly came off her chest. She opened her eyes and sighed softly as Tidus opened his own and then walked right through her towards the edge of the airship, his breath only a whisper now to her ears as she felt whatever hair of his that was left caress the side of her face.

As he passed through her, a smile touched his lips and he walked through her, a small choked sob escaping her throat as she felt him walk through her and then watched as he slowly walked towards the edge. Behind her, Rikku was jumping up and down waving her arms about, Wakka was shaking his head in disapproval while Kimahri just stood there and watched while Lulu waved slightly.

Tidus continued to walk towards the edge before stopping to pull his lips back in a sudden look of anguish and then run forward, a single tear slipping past his lashes as he blinked and then dove off the edge.

*     *     *     *     *     *     *     *

"Dagger!" 

            That name reverberated off the thick brick walls of the grand exquisite castle as the person who stood atop the deck of the airship literally tore his hood and robe away from his body, his shoulder length dark honey blond hair lifting into the air to swiftly settle down upon his broad, wide shoulders once again. His deep forest green eyes shone brightly as he threw the items of clothing to the ground to slowly jump down from the crate he stood upon and then began to make his way towards the entrance of the airship.

            Atop the balcony of the castle, the young woman of seventeen gasped in pure shock and relief as her dark, exotic eyes widened in realization at who was calling her. Garnet Til Alexandros the 17th scrambled from her chair to rush over to the edge of the railing to lean forward and scan the grounds for whoever called out her name. She found no one. But, there had to have been someone there who knew her nickname. But who?

            Upon having found no one there at all, no one she could recognize, Garnet gathered her white, silk skirts in hand and fled from the towered balcony. Around the large throne she went, skirts and long dark hair in all as she came to a sudden stop in front of the double doors, catching herself before she could fall to the ground. As she lifted her head she found herself staring at two people who she could trust, two people whom she could entrust her very life with, the two most protective people whom she had ever known in her entire life, her two personal bodyguards; Adelbert Steiner and the Beatrix of Alexandria.

She was uncertain for a moment of what they might have done, but, instead, her eyes narrowed slightly in confusion as she looked from Steiner to Beatrix, right back to Steiner who now supported a grin that seemed to widen quickly. Garnet then looked over at Beatrix to find her push aside the left door and smile a small smile of support as she bowed deeply and swept her left arm out in front of her, the long brown curls bouncing with the movement.

As soon as the twin doors were open, she rushed forward, eager to get to her destination quickly. Down the spiraling staircase she flew, her skirts lifted high, but then dropped back down to the ground again as she threw her arms out and shoved open the two oak doors that stood in her way from the mysterious man and the courtyard, the two female guards standing to the side shot their Queen confused looks as they watched her run down the steps.

 Once outside, she felt her heart pounding hard in her ears and her blood pumping hard with adrenaline as she stumbled down the small set of stairs silently and regained her balance to run the length of the blood red carpet that led from the tower doors straight to the crowd that was gathering. She had to push her way through the thick crowd that continue around the young man who was walking out from the airship.

"Excuse me. Please, move out of the way. Watch out!" Garnet said quickly as she continued to push her way through, but then the crowd suddenly parted and one young man roughly rammed his shoulder into hers, spinning her around swiftly, the Falcon Claw suddenly afloat through the air and not laying neatly upon her ample chest. __

_Oh no! _Garnet cried out in her mind as she whirled around to face the large crystal just lying on the ground. Bringing her hands to her neck, she silently contemplated whether to go and grab it and then run the rest of the way, but what if he didn't wait for her? What if he ended up leaving her once again? What would she do then? He wouldn't do that to her! Of all the people in the world

            _This can't happen to me, not now! _She thought in dismay as she closed her eyes and then quickly opened them to whirl around on her heel and continue to run, wild thoughts flying around in her head. Tears of fear and happiness began to fill her eyes as she gave one final shove through the crowd to break out into the open of them and then rush down the blood red carpet as the tall, strong figure of her mysterious man slowly approached her from the airship.

            As soon as she laid her dark eyes on him, her tears began to slip down her flushed cheeks as she reached up to tear the thin diamond covered tiara from nestled atop her head, pinned down to the thick strands by hairpins on the ends. Into the crowd the tiara had disappeared as she felt her feet suddenly leave the step as she threw herself at the man who met her halfway, his strong arms going around her waist immediately as he stumbled back from the force she had use when throwing herself at him.

            Zidane Tribal stumbled back a few feet and managed to catch himself as he ended up lifting the woman in his arms slightly off the ground as her skirts whipped the side of his right leg, his long beige tail swishing from side to side. He quickly set Garnet onto the ground, his arms never leaving her waist as he stared down at her. For a moment her dark eyes that seemed to make his face go warm, looked into his green ones before searching the rest of his face. He flashed her a forced impish grin, but it quickly fell apart as he saw the tears in her eyes, the stains of tears on her cheeks. It almost made him want to bend over and…

            _Stop that, Tribal! _He commanded firmly. Garnet's lower lip trembled and then went still as she swept it in between her teeth and gnawed down on it.

            "How could you!" She suddenly shouted in a strained whisper as she began to viciously beat her tightly clenched fists against his broad cheat that felt like steel beneath her flesh.  "Leave me without a warning or anything, not even a goodbye?"

            Zidane sighed softly and then pulled back to look at her. "I'm sorry, Dagger, what else _could_ I have done?" He asked sincerely as she once again searched his face for an answer, which was hers to give, his hand slowly caressing her hair, his thumb caressing her cheek.

            Garnet licked her lips and then let out a small sob as she threw herself into his arms again, burying her face into his shoulder this time. "Don't you ever do it again, all right?"            

            Zidane nodded and held her close as he closed his eyes and softly rubbed her back. "Promise. Just as long as you don't go and pull some disappearing acts on me, missy," He whispered into her hair, smiling.

*     *     *     *     *     *     *     *  

            His deep royal blue eyes swept over the grass of the prairies that surrounded him. He was home! The last thing he could remember before blacking out on the deck of Cid Highwinds ship had been something that Tifa and Red XIII had been shouting at each other as they flew away. The other thing he could remember were the Makio green eyes that haunted him and wouldn't leave him alone.        

            What was wrong with him? Wherever did he go wrong? Aeris?

            No, she wasn't going to tell him. _She's dead. _Cloud Strife reminded himself grimly as he began to make his way through the tall grass that reached to his hip. "She's never coming back, its all my fault." He muttered as he felt something gross and large squish under his foot as he stepped down. "Ugh."

            _There's still time…_ A voice whispered past his ear.

            "No, there is not. Aeris is gone, it's all my fault."

            _Still time…_

            "Shut up!" Cloud growled through tightly clenched teeth. "Just shut up."

            He could still see her perfect green eyes in his head. They were still alight. Cloud could still picture her as he had first found her; kneeling on the ground, taking care of her flowers in the old ruins of that church. _Enough! _He commanded. _There's nothing that can be done, Strife, you lost the poor woman, so suck it up and take the pain like a real man!_

            The large two-story house came into view and a small successful smile touched his lips, as he made sure his large sword was still secure in the scabbard on his back. He began to whistle quietly, softly, the song that she had sang that one day while he was asleep and she was nowhere in sight. Just whistling. Cloud could tell it was her whistling, for her whistle was soft, yet sharp and clear at the same time.

            Unlike Tifa's, now hers' was bad for the people with hearing abilities. You couldn't tell if she were either killing a cat slowly or else playing a violin the wrong way. The thought made his smile widen, the expression suddenly feeling alien, foreign to his smooth cheeks and chin. Cloud sighed heavily in penitence as he came to a cobblestone path buried slightly in moss and weeds. He blinked and then followed that small path, to find himself now on some strange road with wooden fences following along side it.

            He glanced around at his strange, new surroundings and then scratched his head as he noted the lazy looking daisies swaying in the warm breeze along the fences, the long calve length grass swaying as well to the sweet soundless song of the wind. "What the hell?" Cloud muttered, turning around a few times. "Where's the house?"

            He looked around a few more times and then began to walk down the road, all the time, his eyes training on the stiff looking tree that stood still to his left and in the place of where his home was supposed to be. To his right were endless fields of deep green grass. Cloud immediately took note of the two men standing at the top of the hill, the form of a young woman with short cropped dark brown hair only a few feet away from the other two men, her arm raised, her hand waving to someone invisible to his eye at that moment.

            Just then, the name was carried on the wind, touching his ears only slightly, causing him to furrow his brow in confusion. He had never heard of such a name. It was new and strange to his ears. "Uncle Laguna!"

            It was then that he saw the man known as Laguna suddenly rise from the grass, his cyan shirt rippling from the breeze, his long brown hair swaying slightly as well as he waved back to acknowledge the woman. "Laguna?" Cloud said to himself as he watched the two people hug and then glance down at something in the ground in front of them. "New neighbors?"

            "Cloud!"

            Cloud blinked hard and then blinked a few more times as fast flashes of bright light seized his eyes, making him cringe and take an uncertain step back. "Cloud? Are you all right?" The voice was to his left now and it sounded exactly like--

            "Tifa?" Cloud croaked as he brought a hand to his eyes and rubbed at them.

            "Yeah, what's the matter? Cloud, open your eyes," Tifa Lockhart commanded as she reached over to pull his hand from his face.

            Cloud blinked a few more times before opening his eyes to find himself staring into Tifa's dark eyes that showed concern for him. "I… you--Laguna?"

            Tifa's left brow lifted and she shook her head. "What's the matter? You hit your head or something? You know me. I'm not this… Laguna…"

            Cloud frowned deeply. "Right, sorry, Tifa."

            Tifa grinned and nodded. "There you go!" she said cheerfully. "Now, let's get you settled in. I think you should rest, Cloud," she then announced over her shoulder as she began to walk through the gate, taking the cobblestone path up to the door of the two story house. 

            Cloud groaned quietly as he placed a hand to his head. "I think so too, Tifa, I think so too…" he muttered under his breath as he trudged along after her, throwing a quick glance over his shoulder to see if the man known as Laguna was still standing there atop the hill with the woman.

            No one was there.

            Just…

            …The prairies of Nibelheim…

*     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     

            The sun was high and extremely bright as she walked out onto the balcony, the birds once singing on the railing, now gone from her intrusion. They had finally landed, but it wasn't anywhere close to Balamb City. It was just across from Matron's house, the large forest filled with lurking monsters only a few miles away. Rinoa inhaled deeply as she leaned up against the railing, her elbows proper, and slowly let out her breathe, her head suddenly spinning.

            The dizzy spell quickly diminished as she opened her eyes to stare out at the rising sun that glided upwards from the end of the ocean. "Today is the day," she whispered to herself, closing her eyes again. "It all begins today…"

            "What begins today?" A deep voice asked from behind, startling her.

            Rinoa whipped around, her eyes wide. "Squall!" she exclaimed, trying to hide her surprise.

            "What begins today?" Squall repeated, a confused and hesitant look drawing his brows together, the tip of his dark pink scar pinched together as he laid a hand on his hip and stared at her.

            Rinoa chuckled lightly. It was a forced chuckle, probably to suppress her uneasiness and shock. "Nothing, nothing at all, Squall." She said in a light tone of voice.

            Squall's eyes searched her face; the dark blue-gray orbs slightly squinted against the sun. He nodded a few times for taking his hand from his hip to walk over to her. Rinoa watched him, her eyes trailing over his body. Inside her mind, she was slowly peeling away each article of clothing from his lean, hard looking body. It was the deepness of his voice that jolted her roughly from her reverie.

 "Rinoa, you're hiding something. I'd like to know what it is," Squall said as he stared out at the ocean, his light brown hair stirring to life under the invisible fingers of the wind.

Rinoa shook her head and watched the side of his face, just as she had done not so long ago when they had first danced, held each other close. "I'm not doing such a thing, Squall!" she insisted. "Honest. I was just mumbling to myself."

Squall closed his eyes and then turned fully to face her. He opened his eyes slowly and then, with a gloveless hand, raked his hand through his hair, sending it back away from his face. "Then what were you mumbling?"

            Rinoa pressed her lips together tightly._ Why doesn't he just drop it already? _She thought in exasperation. She smiled sweetly and reached out to clasp his hand in hers. "I was just mumbling about this day being the day that we first met…" she lied.

            Squall watched her for a moment in complete silence before nodding, a small smile touching his lips as he twined his fingers through hers and pulled her close. "You're right. About four months ago, we met… dancing," he murmured against her forehead as he pressed his moist lips to the smooth skin and closed his eyes.

            Rinoa swallowed thickly and nodded. "Y-yes," she whispered hoarsely, "best day of my life…"

            Squall kept his lips to her forehead, his eyes remaining closed. "Why do you seem so sad?" he asked, pulling his face away to gaze down at her, his eyes staring into hers.

            Rinoa swallowed again and tried to flash him a small, weak smile of assurance, but failed as the tears finally sprang to her dark eyes. "I… I just feel as if this is my last day to be with you," she whispered in a choked voice as a tear glided down her pale cheek.

            Squall quickly reached up and wiped the tear away with the pad of his thumb as he then wrapped his arms around her body and pulled her against him. "Shh." He whispered into her hair as she buried her face into his chest and wept, the hand resting against his chest gripping the white muscle shirt that he only wore, the feathered jacket no more. "I'm not going anywhere, Rinoa and neither are you…"

            Rinoa sniffled and reached up to wipe away the tears on her cheeks. "I wish that were true." She whispered in return, her voice breaking.

            "What do you mean?"

            "I don't question them, Squall."

            There was fear in her usual soft voice. But why? What was she so scared of? What had her spooked? Squall wondered about that silently as he held on her. "Don't question what?"

            Rinoa shook her head firmly and then turned her face away. "I can't say…" was all she said as she pulled away from the comfort of his arms to hug her own arms to her chest and walk away from him, leaving him standing by himself on the balcony of Balamb Garden…

*     *     *     *     *     *     *     *

            Something outside, down in the courtyard had caught her eye as she stood in front of the window in the hallway of the castle, her brows drawn together in confusion and thought. She was so lost in her thoughts and the thing outside that she didn't hear the light footsteps and the deep masculine voice that called out to her.

            "Dagger? Hey! Yoo-hoo..."

            Garnet blinked and tore her eyes from the window to turn around and find herself now lost in a pair of lush deep forest green eyes that watched her carefully. "Zidane," she said lightly, his name slipping from the tip of her tongue as a sacred prayer of some sort.

            "Whatcha lookin' at?" Zidane asked teasingly as his eyes left her face to glance quickly at the window that towered behind her slim, beautiful body.

            Garnet flushed immediately and looked down at the ground, suddenly then noticing the flower patterns that decorated the blood red carpets that ran the length of the marble floors. "I-it was nothing." She said quickly, _too_ quickly. "Just the gardener…"

            Zidane smiled impishly and chuckled, drawing a confused expression from the young queen. "You sure it just wasn't the gardener, Dagger?" he asked jokingly, winking and crossing his arms over his wide chest.

            Garnet blinked and opened her mouth to object. "No! It wasn't that… something else…"

            "Really? Enlighten me..."

            "It was nothing, Zidane."

            "Oh? Now it's just nothing. Real funny, Dagger."

            "I'm serious, Zidane!"

            Zidane chuckled and then threw up his gloved hands in mock defense. "Whoa! Calm down, I was just bugging you. Learn to have some fun…"

            Garnet licked her lips and reached up to run her gloved fingers through her long tresses of dark, exotic hair. "Sorry," she mumbled, "but you scared me when you came up here…"

            Zidane wiggled his fingers. "Sorry. I beg, wait, I don't beg. Never mind that. So, what exactly _were_ you looking at?" he asked as he walked towards her and then stopped at the window.

            Garnet slowly turned and looked out the window as well. "It was really nothing, Zidane. I just thought I saw something, that's all…"

            Zidane looked over at her, pushing back the dark honey strands with a raised hand. "Saw something?" he echoed. "Like what? An Intruder?"

            Garnet slowly shook her head. "No. Just… something. They resembled eyes…"

            Zidane blinked and then lifted his left brow in question. "Eyes? You think you saw eyes? Are you sure it hadn't been your own eyes staring back at you from the reflection in the glass?" he asked, slightly amused.

            Garnet pursed her lips. "No!" she snapped. "My eyes aren't green, now are they?"

            Zidane frowned. "Are you sure you were thinking about staring into my eyes? Something passionate like that?" he asked, his voice full of glee.

            Garnet smacked him on the arm. "No!" she snapped again. "Their green eyes were lighter. Almost as if they were a neon green, they kind of glowed a bit."

            Zidane watched her and then slowly slid his eyes from her face to stare out the window. "Whatever it was, I don't see it anymore."

            Garnet shook her head. "This isn't the first time I've seen them," she whispered.

            Zidane looked back at her and saw the fear registered in her dark eyes. "Hey," he said quickly, "nothing's going to get you. I came back, I'm here and I'm here to stay, to protect you."

            But Garnet wasn't paying attention to his assuring words, she wasn't even watching him as he spoke firmly to her, she was too busy staring out the window over his right wide, broad shoulder into the Makio green eyes that wordlessly beckoned her.  
  
*     *     *     *     *     *      *      *  
  
            _To Be Continued…_


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